Freedom K9 Dog Training

💙 MAX 💙 This sweet young golden retriever recently graduated his off leash training with us and we wanted to share a little of his journey with you. Max had already had a few weeks of puppy/on leash training a few months ago with us and this time we wanted to sharpen the skills he already did know by increasing his reliability around greater distractions since he’s more mentally mature now and also to add in the off leash reliability. His down stays, recalls, off leash place / decompression, heeling and so much more will allow him to adventure so much more with his owner. We are so proud of the young man he’s becoming!

Bella has hit a week with @freedomk9.tristan and we are so proud with her progress so far! Her foundations in obedience have been laid and we are ready to start layering in her e-collar training ! We’ve been focusing hard on introducing impulse control, showing her what pressure is and how to turn it off, and helping her learn to take a breath and smell the roses ! With 3 weeks left in her program, we are excited to see her progress!! 🐾 BETTER BEHAVIOR. GUARANTEED 🐾 🐶 Covering all of the Carolinas and beyond 🐶 Any Breed, Size, Age or Behavior 🐶 Lifetime Support ⭐️ 5 Star Rated ⭐️ 🐕 Custom Dog Training Programs 🐕 Board & Train, Private Dog Training Lessons, Virtual Lesson Options 🐕 Puppy Foundations 🐕 On Leash & Off Leash Obedience 🐕 Reactivity Training 💻 www.freedomk9dogtraining.com ⌨️ [email protected] 📱 980-240-4408 #dogtraining #charlottenc #dogsofcharlotte #charlotte #greenville #greenvillesc #dogsinclt #queencity #cltdogs #dog #dogs #doglover #dogtraining #rockhill #fortmill #fortmillsc #rockhillsc

Rita - the happy black lab who is using a prong, ecollar, flat collar, retractable leash and food during this training session. We don’t disguise it around here - we are balanced trainers, which means we use both rewards and corrections. Much like kids, I’d love for them to be motivated to make the right choice 24-7, but alas, turns out they have a mind of their own and since dogs will never have the discernment needed of a human adult, sometimes we, as handlers, need tactile guidance to follow through with what we ask, simply because we can see the bigger picture. Correction doesn’t mean that behaviors need to be taught with excessive amounts of force - that’s where motivation, consistency, clear communication and guidance come in. It’s not all or nothing and as you can see, you can still have a very happy, playful pup as a result. I can’t wait for Rita’s go home lesson today!

The weather outside is frightful 🥶☔️💧 so let’s make our dog’s day (and ours too) a little more delightful by making an enrichment activity out of things you already have. Ingredients are completely up to you. In this video you’ll see me putting together bowls for my client dogs as well as my own so there is a mixture of kibble, raw food, supplements, peanut butter, etc. I like to use stainless steel bowls, but use any bowl that can be put in the freezer. I’m also filling my @westpawus Toppl and @kongcompany kongs with raw and peanut butter for a future use so they are ready for an every day enrichment activity. Yes, today’s objective was to beat the rainy day boredom, but we love adding in enrichment activities to our dog’s routine daily and using their food is a great way to do this without breaking the bank! Stay tuned for more enrichment ideas! 🐾 BETTER BEHAVIOR. GUARANTEED 🐾 🐶 Covering all of the Carolinas and beyond 🐶 Any Breed, Size, Age or Behavior 🐶 Lifetime Support ⭐️ 5 Star Rated ⭐️ 🐕 Custom Dog Training Programs 🐕 Board & Train, Private Dog Training Lessons, Virtual Lesson Options 🐕 Puppy Foundations 🐕 On Leash & Off Leash Obedience 🐕 Aggression Training 🐕 Reactivity Training 💻 www.freedomk9dogtraining.com ⌨️ [email protected] 📱 980-240-4408 #dogtraining #charlottenc #dogsofcharlotte #charlotte #raleigh #raleighnc #greenville #greenvillesc #myrtlebeach #charleston #wilmington #dogsofnc #dogsinclt #dogsofinstagram #greensboronc #durhamnc #queencity #cltdogs #dog #dogs #doglover #dogtraining #rockhill #fortmill #fortmillsc #rockhillsc

Got a new puppy or dog for the holidays? Check out Part 2 of my interview with WCCB Charlotte for my top tips on how to set your new furry family member up for success and make their addition to your home a lasting one. More tips to be added to our page this week!

Got a Christmas puppy? Now what? I had the chance to share a few VERY brief quick tips on how to make the transition easier for you and your new dog / puppy on @wccbcharlotte ! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share my knowledge. While the segment was brief, I intend to share more detailed help here in the coming posts this next few weeks, so stay tuned! 🐾 BETTER BEHAVIOR. GUARANTEED 🐾 🐶 Covering all of the Carolinas and beyond 🐶 Any Breed, Size, Age or Behavior 🐶 Lifetime Support ⭐️ 5 Star Rated ⭐️ 🐕 Custom Dog Training Programs 🐕 Board & Train, Private Dog Training Lessons, Virtual Lesson Options 🐕 Puppy Foundations 🐕 On Leash & Off Leash Obedience 🐕 Aggression Training 🐕 Reactivity Training 💻 www.freedomk9dogtraining.com ⌨️ [email protected] 📱 980-240-4408 #dogtraining #charlottenc #dogsofcharlotte #charlotte #raleigh #raleighnc #greenville #greenvillesc #myrtlebeach #charleston #wilmington #dogsofnc #dogsinclt #dogsofinstagram #greensboronc #durhamnc #queencity #cltdogs #dog #dogs #doglover #dogtraining #rockhill #fortmill #fortmillsc #rockhillsc

Waiting for a sign to get your dog trained?! This is it! Take advantage of our pre-holiday DISCOUNT 🦃🎁🎉🎄🎅🏼🐾 From NOW until 11/27, save 20% on our Lesson or Board & Train packages‼️ We still have availability to get your dog trained this year or you can save for next year by booking now. CONTACT US TODAY to schedule your FREE CONSULTATION. 📞 980-240-4408 📧 [email protected] [email protected]" rel="ugc" target="_blank">[email protected] 🐾 BETTER BEHAVIOR. GUARANTEED 🐾 🐶 Covering all of the Carolinas and beyond 🐶 Any Breed, Size, Age or Behavior 🐶 Lifetime Support ⭐️ 5 Star Rated ⭐️ 🐕 Custom Programs 🐕 Board & Train, Private Lessons, Virtual Options 🐕 Puppy Foundation 🐕 Off Leash Obedience 🐕 Rehabilitation 💻 www.freedomk9dogtraining.com ⌨️ [email protected] 📱 980-240-4408

Using Scatter Feeding for confidence building with Finn - Finn is a young Westie here for some basic obedience training, however we are firm believers that you can never do too much confidence building with young dogs, so we are going to focus on that as well. As a trainer, it’s heartbreaking seeing older dogs present behavioral issues simply because of poor genetics or improper exposure at a young age. We want to capitalize on their most formidable times and make sure we are doing plenty of exposure to all kinds of sights, sounds, textures, moving objects, etc. In this example, I simply have a few loud can curtains on the ground with some streamers, as well as a place board that I put on top of a bosu ball so that it wobbles. I’m simply tossing food in the mix for him to use his nose and hunt for his meal. I’m making the exposure to foreign, loud objects positive and I’m certain to hold the plank so that he doesn’t fall and have a poor experience. Scatter feeding is great but also notice I’m exposing him, not flooding him. Too much, too fast would create the opposite effect. He’s welcome to leave the food area any time he wants. Note in the video how his body language changes throughout the feeding session. At first he is very stiff with tail tucked. At the end, he’s using his nose more effectively and also wagging his tail with a relaxed body posture! That’s exactly what we are going for!

⭐️ Pappy’s Exposure Trip To Lowes ⭐️ Pappy, a baby Miniature Pincher, is here for his Puppy Foundations Board & Train. While this is not an obedience program, we certainly taught him the benefits of food luring, as well as Crate Training, Handling Drills, Neutrality / Exposure Outings, addressing problem puppy behaviors, Proper Play Mechanics and so much MORE! In this trip to Lowes, we utilized our environment to get him exposed to a variety of things: ✨ Water spilled on cement, which caused the color to turn and made him uncertain…at first ✨ Lots of cars going by ✨ People passing by of all ages and ethnicities ✨ Shopping carts ✨ Exposure to different surfaces (grass, gravel, slick floors, wooden pallets) and walking on uneven surfaces ✨ Tight spaces (under benches and narrow aisles) ✨ and of course, the Halloween section (lots of noises and creepy moving pieces) None of this would have been any good if this hadn’t been done in a mindful way where he came out the other end with more confidence. Of course we built up to this, took frequent breaks, used lots of treats and kept interactions neutral. It’s so important to capitalize on his critical window of exposure of 0-16 weeks, so this is just ONE of our stops, but Lowes was definitely a success!

I could talk about teaching our dogs DECOMPRESSION all day long and we still wouldn’t fully cover the topic, so you know I can’t fully address it in a short video, but it’s worth taking a moment to stop and share this valuable SKILL. 🔉 Sound On 🔉 As I said, the “Place” command is NOT the only way we do this, but for the sake of this video, it allowed me to work with SIX dogs at once while keeping everyone safe, plus they provided distractions for one another. Tethered decompression, duration place, behavioral downs and other useful skills are some of the most important work we can utilize for dogs with an over abundance of energy. Sure, physical exercise is important. I go to the gym and my dogs and I take walks, utilize play and even they have their own treadmill. However, WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE RELY ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS A MEANS TO TIRE OUT THEIR DOG. They mean well, but what they are accidentally doing is just conditioning an athlete. That’s why the dog never gets tired…at least, not in a way that’s lasting. They are flooded with dopamine spikes - over exercising, running the fence line, staring out the window and barking all day, play groups, daycare, dog bars. Every time they get that hit of dopamine, it feels good and they crave MORE. Much like a drug addict, once the dog gets a taste for the good stuff, they will start seeking it out any place they can find it…until it becomes an obsession and becomes UNHEALTHY. Let’s call it like it is…that’s not a healthy state of mind. What we can do is balance this out by teaching our dogs the ⭐️ ART OF DOING NOTHING ⭐️. It’s a learned skill, but a valuable one and worth the work that you will put in! Life CAN be a party, but not 24-7. And as a side note, many people mistake a RELAXED dog for a sad dog, because they simply don’t know what a relaxed dog looks like. So give your dog the world! But make their world well rounded and you will enjoy your time with them even

Remember, if you’re not having fun, your dog is not having fun!

You can say we are smitten 💕 Meet OLIVE 💕 Olive is an 8 week old Golden Retriever here for 5 weeks of puppy foundations…are more training to come later. Her paw-rents have been so dedicated to finding the right fit for them and are so invested in making sure Olive has everything she needs from the best training to the best nutrition…we love invested Owners like Olive’s and we LOVE Olive!

Draco and his distraction deer 🦌. 🐾 BETTER BEHAVIOR. GUARANTEED 🐾 🐶 Covering all of the Carolinas and beyond🐶 Any Breed, Size, Age or Behavior🐶 Lifetime Support⭐️ 5 Star Rated ⭐️ 🐕 Custom Programs🐕 Board & Train, Private Lessons, Virtual Options🐕 Puppy Foundation🐕 Off Leash Obedience 🐕 Rehabilitation 💻 www.freedomk9dogtraining.com ⌨️ [email protected]📱 980-240-4408 #dogtraining #charlottenc #dogsofcharlotte #charlotte #raleigh #raleighnc #greenville #greenvillesc #myrtlebeach #charleston #wilmington #dogsofnc #dogsinclt #dogsofinstagram #greensboronc #durhamnc #queencity #cltdogs #dog #dogs #doglover #dogtraining #rockhill #rockhillsc

I heard this audio and immediately thought of dogs… If a flower 🌹 doesn’t grow, you don’t blame the flower. You check the soil…the light…the water. Yet with our dogs, when the don’t behave the way we want, we immediately blame the dog. Instead, what if we checked all the things they need to thrive?! How’s their headspace? Are they afraid? Are they over-aroused? Above threshold? How’s their nutrition? Are they hurting physically? Have they received opportunity to express genetic needs? Sniffing, licking, chewing, play, physical exercise…? Have we helped their environment be balanced? Or have we created little dopamine addicts seeking their next fix? Have we truly taught them what we DO want? How is the clarity in communication? How have WE helped the relationship? Are we expecting engagement without doing OUR part to warrant being engaging? Our dogs are complex, yet simple, but the truth remains… When we aren’t getting what we want out of them…it’s NEVER the dog’s fault…we can’t blame the dog…we must look at how WE can help them grow 🌹🐾 🐾 BETTER BEHAVIOR. GUARANTEED 🐾 🐶 Covering all of the Carolinas and beyond 🐶 Any Breed, Size, Age or Behavior 🐶 Multiple Trainers / Locations 🐶 Lifetime Support ⭐️ 5 Star Rated ⭐️ 🐕 Puppy Jumpstart 🐕 On and Off Leash 🐕 Board & Train 🐕 Basic & Advanced Obedience 🐕 Behavior Modification 💻 www.freedomk9carolinas.com ⌨️ [email protected] 📱 980-240-4408 #dogtraining #charlottenc #dogsofcharlotte #charlotte #raleigh #raleighnc #greenville #greenvillesc #myrtlebeach #charleston #wilmington #dogsofnc #dogsinclt #dogsofinstagram #greensboronc #durhamnc #queencity #cltdogs #dog #dogs #doglover #dogtraining

📢 Ahem…AHEM…is this thing on?! 🎤 BALANCED trainers / handlers / owners unite ✊🏻Can we all just agree we are sick of getting accused of being harsh/compulsive/cruel for being balanced?! It’s like anything in life, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Or in this case, the ones shouting and screaming or even being the most vocal and usually RUDEST on social media usually gets the most attention. But just because someone is LOUD, doesn’t mean they are correct. Listen, just because someone chooses to use a prong collar or ecollar, doesn’t mean they don’t know how to train. It doesn’t mean they are being compulsive or cruel. And it surely doesn’t mean we are anti - positive reinforcement. Without getting too science-y, we LOVE positive reinforcement! It’s part of that whole BALANCED thing 😜🤫 (hint: we use all 4 quadrants of operant conditioning). Sometimes training looks like withholding treats or a toy to get a behavior 😱 CRUEL 😱 and that has nothing to do with a prong/ecollar and is still using a balanced method. Heck, we really believe in a myriad of tools (treats, clickers, prongs, Ecollars, slip leads, harnesses, flexi leads, and more! The key is that all tools have their place and it’s about knowing what they were designed for and how/when to use them properly. A hammer can build amazing things, but throw it through a window and now you’ve got a broken window. Unless your goal was to break that window 😳 So let’s 🛑 STOP 🛑 the stigma. Knowledge is power and we could all benefit from opening our minds and learning more instead of just pointing the finger and getting louder to drown the person out.

🚨 ATTENTION 🚨

Getting your dog to OUT the toy while playing … Anyone have this problem??? While we made this Reel for fun and games, it was staged because teaching the out is pretty easy, if you know how to do it. However, many people struggle with this. Let’s not confuse the OUT with the bringing back of the toy. They are two separate things. Playing with your dog is a game which has many parts. Some dogs like the consume part more than others, which we can interpret as keep-away. The OUT however is once your dog has brought back the toy, but still has it in their mouth, without letting go. As with everything in dog training, there are more factors to consider, such as timing, order of commands and markers, full understanding of commands and markers, etc, but ultimately, it comes down to your dog understanding the game and also being motivated to let go. We always start this on leash first so that we can control our environment. We also love to have two rewards that are exactly the same, so that when you ask for the OUT, you are really just swapping it for the other reward that has no more or less value. Some people call this two-ball, but you can apply the same concept with any reward. Remember, like we said, so many other factors come into play here, but be clear with your communication, put on your patience hat and contact us if you want help diving further into this concept! We are always here to help. PLAYING with your dog should be FUN and stress free!

How does anyone (human or dog) get good at anything? PRACTICE. PRACTICE. THEN PRACTICE SOME MORE. We could also call this CONSISTENCY. We’ve all heard the phrase, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” So if you don’t practice and if you aren’t consistent with your dog, don’t be surprised when their reliability slips away. On the flip side, the more you practice, the more reliable your dog will be and the faster they will get there. So no matter what you’re working on with your dog, KEEP PRACTICING!